Russia and China condemn US sanctions against Venezuela

Posted by Maryam Yamin on January 29th, 2019

 According to iStorify, Russia and China strongly criticise the sanctions that the United States has forced against Venezuela on Monday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov believes that sanctions undermine trust in the international financial system.

"Russia is doing everything to support the legitimate government of President Maduro," said Lavrov according to the Russian news agency Interfax.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also called the sanctions "illegal". Moscow investigates the consequences of the sanctions for Russia and intends to initiate all legal probabilities that exist to protect the interests of the country.

According to spokesman Geng Shuang of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, history registers that foreign interference only makes situations more complicated, "writes Reuters. The United States must, according to Shuang, bear the responsibility for the consequences of the sanctions.

The United States announced Monday that sanctions against the Venezuelan oil company PDVSA and the central bank of Venezuela would be used. With this, the US wants to increase the pressure on the controversial President Nicolás Maduro. The Houston-based subsidiary of PDVSA, Citgo Petroleum, will remain active, but no money will go to the Maduro regime. US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin expects a "modest impact" of the measures on US refineries.